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Royal Family Members Who Are Poorer Than You Thought

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Not every Windsor is riding around in a solid-gold carriage.

The royal family’s reputation for bottomless wealth runs into a wall the moment you look past the immediate line of succession. Cousins, nieces, and in-laws with royal blood but no official duties actually clock in for paychecks — modeling gigs, magazine bylines, corporate desk jobs — while the Queen and her direct heirs sit on fortunes most of them will never touch. Nicki Swift’s June 2018 breakdown, “Royal Family Members Who Are Poorer Than You Thought,” lines up exactly who’s working for a living inside “The Firm” and who’s simply inheriting one.

• Lady Amelia Windsor, 37th in line to the throne, models for Storm Model Management and has walked runways for Dolce & Gabbana.
• Lord Frederick Windsor spent time as a JPMorgan investment banking analyst, while his sister Lady Gabriella Windsor freelances for the Sunday Telegraph, Country Life, and The Spectator.
• The Queen’s estimated fortune of $495 million to $550 million dwarfs Prince William and Prince Harry’s roughly $40 million apiece in inherited wealth.

The Working Windsors

Lady Amelia Windsor, granddaughter of the Duke of Kent, doesn’t collect a royal stipend and doesn’t need the title to get booked. She’s built a real modeling résumé with Storm Model Management, the agency that also represented Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne, landing runway spots for Dolce & Gabbana and editorial pages in Tatler. She’s the kind of royal who gets recognized for a magazine cover before anyone connects her to the family tree.

Lord Frederick Windsor and Lady Gabriella Windsor, the children of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, have taken an even more varied route. Frederick has worked as a model and a music journalist before landing an analyst job at JPMorgan — a straightforward finance career with nothing royal about the paycheck. Gabriella writes freelance pieces for the Sunday Telegraph, Country Life, and The Spectator, filing copy the way any working journalist does.

Lady Rose Gilman, daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, went a different direction entirely, building a career in film art departments with credits on the Harry Potter franchise. None of these three collect anything close to a Sovereign Grant salary — they’re on production schedules and payrolls like everyone else in their industries.

Meghan Markle’s Pre-Wedding Ledger

Profiled just weeks after her May 2018 wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle entered the family with an independent net worth estimated around $5 million, built entirely on her acting career — most notably her run on Suits. That money came with a complication most royals never deal with: U.S. tax obligations that don’t simply disappear because you’ve married into Kensington Palace. Her financial history, and the ongoing scrutiny of the family she came from, is covered in more depth in a timeline of Meghan Markle’s parents’ dysfunctional relationship.

Princess Anne’s Kids Skipped the Titles Entirely

Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, Princess Anne’s children, were both raised without royal titles by choice, and their careers reflect it. Tindall earns her living through equestrian sports, competing at an elite level that’s produced real prize money and sponsorships. Phillips took the corporate route, working for Jaguar, Williams F1, and SEL UK — three very different employers, but a real employment history all the same.

Beatrice and Eugenie Still Punch a Clock

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, daughters of Prince Andrew, both hold down conventional jobs. Beatrice works in business consulting and finance, while Eugenie serves as a director at the Hauser & Wirth art gallery — a genuine art-world career, not a ceremonial title. Readers who want the fuller picture of how differently various branches of the family actually live can check out Royal Family Members That Are Nothing Like They Seem.

The Fortune Gap at the Top

All of that working-royal hustle exists in the shadow of numbers that make it look almost quaint. Queen Elizabeth II’s estimated fortune sits between $495 million and $550 million. Prince Charles is estimated around $100 million. Prince William and Prince Harry each carry roughly $40 million through inheritance, and Kate Middleton’s estimated at around $10 million.

A JPMorgan analyst desk and a Hauser & Wirth director title are a long way from a $550 million inheritance — and that’s the whole point of the gap.

Relative Poverty, Royal Style

None of these Windsors and Phillipses are hurting by any normal measure — they’re just not sitting on Sovereign Grant money or nine-figure inheritances, so they show up to actual jobs like the rest of us. Lady Amelia’s still booking runway shows, Frederick and Gabriella are still filing copy and running numbers, and Zara Tindall’s still chasing ribbons on horseback — which, compared to a $550 million family fortune, is about as close to a paycheck-to-paycheck royal life as it gets.